Maxed Out

It's been one of those days.  No, not the kind where everything goes wrong and you can't figure out how to get back on track, although we've had several of those around here too.  It's been one of those days where even though you didn't have much on the docket, you feel tired and behind and like if your two year old nails you in the boob with her knee ONE MORE TIME you might just lose your ever-loving mind (and make the local headlines Local Mother Gets Medieval on Child's Butt).  I am flat out overwhelmed, exhausted, and I'll admit it, depressed.

I think every young mom goes through periods where she feels like she is going crazy and I am deep in that feeling right now.  Between having to move a few weeks after Matthias was born and still trying to let the last of the moving dust settle, a baby who doesn't take naps (I mean seriously!!!), a toddler that is into everything, and frankly, a whole lot of rogue hormones going wild inside me I really feel like I'm losing my mind.  Don't get me wrong, I love being a stay at home mom (and I'm good at it too).  But I hit a moment this evening where I thought to myself (as I nursed the baby and Abigail climbed back and forth across the couch via my back), if one more hand gets stuck in my hair or one more thing so much as TOUCHES me, I'm handing the kids to Jeremy and going to the nearest coffee shop BY MYSELF.  I mean really, how many times do I have to tell Abby "legs are strong and you don't have good control of them, so stop kicking" or "Use the baby's shoulders to move him, not his head" or "stop hitting your brother" or "Please go around my legs, don't climb on top of me while I'm nursing." (by the way, I've said all of those in the last 20 minutes.)  Sheesh.

There is a mountain of 4 loads of laundry waiting to be conquered on the bed. ("stop, don't throw that stick at your brother!") Dinner isn't started.  The house is in such a state I don't know how I'm going to dig myself out.  I vacuumed today.  I vacuumed while both my kids screamed bloody murder.  ("I said STOP poking him with the stick.")  Matthias was already upset and Abby goes ballistic whenever I run the vacuum.  Her terror further increasing Matthias's tears. Also, the dog got panicky (just to add a little more chaos).  Then I remembered, this is why I can never ever vacuum without backup.   ("Whoa, get up!  You can't put all your weight on him like that!")

I feel like I should be able to handle this.  I should at least be able to get ONE thing done a day.  It shouldn't take me 2 weeks to fold the laundry (while load after endless load builds up)!  ("I know you're hungry.  Please stop whining and ask me nicely.")  The bathroom shouldn't be growing pink mildew by the time I get around to smearing a sponge around the sink.  I feel like I'm barely coping and I'm not even accomplishing anything.  Ok, that's not strictly true, I'm mothering.  Which is no small task.  My children are in one piece (that is the bare minimum, after all), they are fed, and most importantly, they know that they are loved.  But it sure would be nice to have the dishes done or have clean, folded clothes in our drawers (I can hardly even imagine).

Excuse me now while I feed my children (again), give baths, put on their pj's, find their blankets that they can't sleep without, make sure teeth get brushed, bounce, rock, burp, nurse, kiss, clean up spit up, disentangle fingers from my hair, nurse, beg the baby to go to sleep, tip toe out of his bedroom, (nope, he's crying again), bounce, burp, rock, tip toe, sigh....

Ok, I'm back.  And it's worth mentioning that, while the above sentence only took seconds to read, it actually took about 2 hours to live.  All this is too say I'm pooped and I'm discouraged and sometimes I feel guilty for feeling pooped and discouraged.  I mean, this is precious time with these little ones.  But seriously, this is insane!  How can such a short period of time take so looooooong?  I'm so grateful for my mom who encourages me when I call her to meltdown and rejoices with me over every little thing that my little ones are learning and doing and sympathizes with me when things just don't seem to be working out at all.  I'm so grateful for her telling me that what I feel is normal (even if I'm not convinced that's true) and that these pre-school years are some of the hardest I'll push through.  And I'm thankful for her conversation that gives me a window to the outside world beyond the four walls of this house and reminds me that other people live lives, some normal, some crazy, and that this season will give way to a new one.

And Jeremy, since I know you are one of the only people who reads this, I just want you to know I'm grateful to you too.  And I love you.  And thanks for dealing with the crazy!

Oh yeah, I have a blog...

Actually, I didn't forget that I have a blog.  In fact, I've thought of several things that I would like to post but 1) it seemed inappropriate to write a blog post after a several month long hiatus without at least introducing this guy first

and 2) I HAVE NO TIME!

Anyway, this little guy decided he didn't love the name June Bug (for his June 6th due date) and decided to arrive on May 30th instead (less than 24 hours after my mom arrived!).  Here are some highlights of his arrival (photo creds to my sister-in -law, Sarah):

Daddy meets his son for the first time

7 pounds, almost 14 ounces

First bath

Trying to get a glimpse of baby brother with Grandma

Siblings meet for the first time 

His feet are almost as big as hers!

His name is first name is Matthias, which means Gift of God.  His middle name is Manoogian, which is Armenian for Son of Immanuel and has a rich family heritage on my husband's side.  We think he's pretty amazing!  And here are a few more images of his introduction to the world.  Once again, thanks to Sarah.

Baby Brother

Yesterday Abby and I had a conversation about her baby brother who is coming soon.  She likes to rub and hug and kiss my belly and HOLLER “Hi BABY!” into my belly button.  I pretty sure she thinks that my belly button is the portal through which we can communicate with the baby (she kisses, pokes and even zerbets my belly button all in the name of loving on her brother).   Here are some of the highlights of our conversation this morning. 

We talked about how she could be such a good helper and pick out clothes for the baby and help with diapers.  She was most interested in knowing if she could help feed the baby with a bottle (she recently helped her Teta bottle-feed some new puppies.  It was the highlight of her week).  I’m planning to nurse but I will also pump so I’m sure she’ll get a chance to help with the bottle.  She also asked a bunch of times about holding the baby on her lap, on her knees, or on her chest.  Apparently, this is of great importance to her.

We talked about how she could help give the baby a pacifier (she calls a pacifier a “bah…” dunno why).  She no longer uses a pacifier but a few children in her nursery at church still do so we talked about who still has a bah and who is all done with theirs.  She asked if “Grandpa all done with bah?”  Yep!  “Grandma all done with bah?”  Yep!  Her response: “Grandma a big boy!” (close enough).

She wanted to know if she should “share potty the baby?”  I told her that the baby wouldn’t be ready for the potty for a while but she could help change his diapers.  She seemed to understand and said that he would have to wait til he is a “big girl” to use the potty (yeah, she hasn’t quite grasped the gender thing yet).

My favorite part was when she asked “baby coming soon?”  We’ve been telling her for a few weeks that he would be here soon but seeing as a week probably feels like an eternity to her I don’t think she really believes us anymore.  I told her he should be here in about 4 Sundays, or 4 weeks.  Then she adopted her best bartering tone, the one she uses when negotiating how many bedtime stories we should read her at night and said “One week!” (I guess that’s her final offer).  Sorry kiddo, 4 weeks or I’ll be answering to Grandma who wants to be here for the delivery.  

Living with a two year old.

You know how some days you just have a really good day?  Well, yesterday I had a really good day.  Abby was delightful, chatty, cuddly, and patient.  I vacuumed just about every vacuum-able surface in my home (whoa, nesting!).  Abby and I danced in the living room to some Gershwin in the morning, played pretend with her baby doll after I finished most of the vacuuming, did a little craft after lunch, and generally had a good time.  I still had energy by her nap time to finish some household chores and make a strawberry cake (seriously!).  Supper was almost on time.  It was a healthy salad and Jeremy enjoyed it.  And we got Abigail to bed on time.  I really needed a day that wasn't filled with exhaustion, temper tantrums (from Abby, not me), and mini crisis. Last week was so friggin exhausting and was filled with blood, bruises, and tears from the little one (I'm not beating her!  She has just suddenly become remarkably clumsy.  Growth spurt maybe?).  Jeremy is working 10 days straight this "week" for his job so to have a day where the pieces all just came together (yesterday was day 7) really gave me the boost I needed.  I mentioned to several people at church on Sunday that I would appreciate prayers for the rest of this week and I guess some people got on their knees on my behalf.  Thank you!

TODAY on the other hand is a different story (so, ummm, yeah keep praying for us)

We've only been up an hour and so far these are the things that have caused Abby to melt down into tears and wailing:

• her door wouldn't close
• she couldn't put her sock on
• she wanted me to hold her
• I held her
• she wanted to bring a bulky toy down the stairs and I told her no (she brought it anyway when I wasn't looking)
• she wanted oatmeal for breakfast
• I gave her oatmeal for breakfast
• it was too hot
• I blew on the oatmeal
• I offered her some juice
• she wanted to watch the garbage truck instead of eat breakfast
• she wanted to watch sesame street
• sesame street took too long to set up on Netflix
• no reason whatsoever

I guess she's making up for being so delightful and fun yesterday. Hoping the day goes uphill from here.

Spiced Lentils with collards over rice

This is a budget friendly meal that is healthy and has a good dose of flavor.  This is a homely little dish but what it lacks in visual pleasure it will make up for on your taste buds and in your body.  This is roughly what I did (I don't really follow recipes so writing what I do out on the blog feels a little weird for me most of the time.  It's good for me so I can go back and see what I did.  What follows is much more accurate to my method than typing out actual measurements).

Spice Lentils with Collard Greens over Rice

Soak lentils over night

Pressure cook in chicken broth til tender (about 7-8 min for me)

Boil a large bunch of collard greens in salted water for 7 minutes.  Drain into a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking (basically you're blanching them).  You could use spinach instead of collards and skip this step and just at the spinach near the end of cooking (I liked the stronger taste of the collards though).

Caramelize 2 onions.  Add the following spices to taste: Cumin, Coriander, Fennel seed (so Jeremy can try to imagine there is some sausage in there somewhere), Arabic 7 Spice (recipe below), cardamom, salt and pepper.  Let it get frangrant.  Add 4 cloves garlic.  

Add the drained lentils (I used half of the 1 lb bag after it was cooked- saving the other half for something else).  Add the collards.  Splash of white wine.  A little chicken bouillon (I dissolved mine in about 1/4 cup warm water).  A squirt of Sriracha. Simmer.  Adjust to taste.

We served it over seasoned rice (you could do brown rice or quinoa or a nice flatbread).  It was very thick, not soupy.  And it was pretty tasty!

I used this recipe as my jumping off point: http://food52.com/recipes/8552-spiced-lentil-sambusas

  I would love to fill some wonton wrappers with the filling and bake it up for some snacks (I'm always so hungry around 4pm)- of course then it's no longer gluten-free but I'm pretty sure Jeremy will forgive me for eating most of the lentils as he is not over the moon about them in general).

Arabic 7 Spice:

I mixed up a bunch of Arabic 7 Spice a while ago and like to throw it things that I want to give a middle Eastern flair to.  (you could mix up a bunch too or just adjust the recipe above to reflect these flavors). The recipe is:

1/2 tsp Cumin

 "       Black pepper

 "       Cardamon

1 tsp.   Nutmeg

2 tsp.   Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. cloves

3/4 tsp.  allspice

Thai Beef Salad

I got the inspiration for this yummy salad from Iowa Girl Eats and then made it my own.  When you're married to a meat-loving man (even one who is starting to reform) sometimes when you say salad is for dinner you get that look.  You know, THAT look.  The one that says do we have any chicken breasts in the fridge?  Maybe I'll just pour myself a bowl of cereal after dinner.  Not so with this salad.  You see this salad is topped with meat, red meat.  I always underestimate the amount of time required to make a dinner salad because I think with no cooking involved it'll whip of in no time.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of cutting and chopping action so planning accordingly.  This salad was a hit and I would definitely make it again if the stars I mean ingredients align.

Thai Beef Salad

Ingredients:
For the dressing:

• Juice from one lemon (or two limes)
• 1/4 c soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon roasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger (I keep mine in the freezer and find it grates very easily after about a minute on the counter
• 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (or other hot sauce)

For the Salad

• 1/2-1 cup of thinly sliced beef (I used left over roast beef from earlier in the week)
• Several handfuls of assorted spring lettuce greens
• 1 cup of cabbage, sliced thinly
• 1 mango, diced
• green onions, chopped
• cilantro, chopped
• 1 shallot, sliced thinly and sauteed in 1 tablespoon of butter til browned and crispy, drained on a paper towel.
• salted peanuts

Mix the dressing together with a whisk and pour about 1/3 of it over your beef to soak up the flavors.  Premix your salad ingredients or arrange salad bar style.  Top with dressing.

Our favorite way to eat broccoli

Broccoli.  Big Whoop.  I know, I know, but around here we love broccoli.  Even my two year old eats it and she hasn't been eating much of anything these days.  I doesn't hurt to have an AMAZING sauce to drizzle over the broccoli.  Jeremy has loved broccoli since he was a kid and he says this is his favorite way to have it prepared EVER.  It's not fancy but it tastes completely awesome.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Optional add ons: sesame seeds, salted peanuts or cashews, sprinkle of lemon zest...

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the broccoli into a steamer basket fitted in a large pot with about 1 inch of water in the bottom. Bring to a boil, and cook for 7 minutes, or until tender but still crisp. Drain, and arrange broccoli put broccoli into a serving bowl.
2. Wipe out the pan and melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Crush the garlic into the butter and stir it for about 30 seconds.  Add the soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and pepper. Bring to a boil for a few seconds then remove from the heat. (Mix in any add on here- we rarely do but the possibilities are intriguing).  Pour the sauce over the broccoli. Serve immediately. 

Creamed Collard Greens

I pretty closely followed one of America's Test Kitchen's recipes for collards for this side dish.  It turned out deliciously.  I have to say, I was surprised by how much the collards cooked down.  I think we all would have enjoyed seconds but there were none to be had.  Hopefully we'll get more collards again in a future CSA box.

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts of water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• about 2 lbs of collard greens, stems removed and coarsely chopped

• 1-2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 medium shallot + half and onion (what I did) OR 2 medium shallots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 3/4 teaspoon of sugar
•  2 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves
• sprinkle of nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bring water and salt to a boil.  Add the collards and cook for 7 minutes.  Pour into a colander and run cold water over the greens to stop the cooking.  Wipe out pan and return to the burner.
2. Add butter to the pan and when hot add the shallot and onion.  Cook til softened and starting to caramelize.  Meanwhile chop the cooled collards into smaller pieces (I just wadded up the softened greens and slashed through with my knife). Add the garlic to the shallot and cook til fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3. Add the collards and all remaining ingredients.  Simmer til the collards are warmed through and the cream has thickened.  Serve.

Gruber CSA Week 2

Last Thursday it was time again to pick up my box of produce from my Gruber Farms CSA.  I usually really enjoy planning my meals out more than a week ahead but not knowing what I'm going to get in my box each week makes that more difficult.  I think the trade off for fresh veggies is worth it though.  I pick up the box on Thursday and start to map out what we'll eat for the next week and what I may need to pick up at the grocery store to make it work.  I'm trying to really work with what we have and not pick too much up at the store.  I want the produce to be the main event so I find I'm mostly picking up staples as we run out of them. This is what we got last week and how we used it:

• 2 Quarts of strawberries (Again!  YAY!  This time they lasted til Sunday.  One whole day longer than last week!)
• 3 small crowns of broccoli (Rich in dietary fiber, minerals like calcium, manganese, iron, magnesium, selenium, zinc, and phosphorus, anti-oxidants, folates (good for pregnant women (yes, I did just insert a parenthetical notation inside another parenthetical notation! (twice!) My blog; I get to go crazy if I want!), and vitamins C and A.)
• Bunch of cilantro (tricky, since Jeremy is not a great lover of cilantro.  I might have to be sneaky.)
• 7 Sweet potatoes (Vitamins C and A, calcium, folate, potassium, and beta-carotene- all good for your eyes, skin, and muscles)
• 9 Sweet Onions
• 1 Large bunch of collard greens (Cholesterol lowering, cancer-preventing, Vitamin A, calcium, fiber)

Here's what we ate last week:

• Roasted bottom round roast with gravy, baked sweet potatoes, and creamed collard greens (it is worth noting that the roast has been/will be incorporated into many additional meals for the next two weeks because I meat consumption is very low now.  Jeremy says we're vegetarians not so much by choice but by budget- it's pretty true!).
• Thai Beef Salad (used some cilantro, onions, and cabbage still leftover from last week)
• Roasted Maple Butternut Squash over quinoa (mostly used up several onions)
• Jeremy made a rice and ground beef (with peppers, onions, garlic, and lots of Abrabic spices mixed in) dish and we had our favorite steamed broccoli on the side.
• Spiced Lentils with collards over rice.

Copy Cat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

I have adapted this recipe from a number of sources online to more or less replicate the Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden.  I have been making it for so long I don't even remember where I got the original inspirations. Sadly, no picture because we gobbled it up and gave the leftovers to my mother-in-law.  It's a creamy colored soup with curly green bits of chopped up kale and  flecks of brown from the potato skins.

Ingredients

• 1 large diced white onion
• 1/2 lb ground mild or sweet Italian sausage
• ½ tsp crushed red peppers
• 4 cloves garlic
• A good bit of Oregano, Basil, and Rosemary (or a very nice Italian seasoning blend- I like Penzey's)
• 4-6 cups good chicken broth/ or use chicken bouillon (I mentioned before, I usually have homemade chicken stock boiling on the back burner and I love to use it for this kind of thing)
• 1 cup half and half
• 2-3 large Russet potatoes, sliced
• A bunch of kale, chopped- as much as you want to throw in (You can also use spinach or Swiss chard- these take only seconds to wilt so throw them in at the very last second)

Directions

1. Saute the onion until it softens and add the Italian sausage and red pepper flakes.  Cook til the sausage is cooked through and the onion is carmelized.  Drain excess fat if necessary.
2. Add the garlic and cook til fragrant.
3. Add chicken brothto the pot and heat until it starts to boil.
4. Add the sliced potatoes and cook until softened but not cooked all the way through.  Add the kale (if your kale is more tender you can wait til the potatoes are cooked through but if it is tough add it a bit earlier).  Boil a few more minutes til kale is soft and potatoes can be pierced with a fork
5. Add the half and half cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.

Okonomiyaki or Japanese "Pizza"

First of all, I should say I have never eaten authentic okonomiyaki so I cannot attest to the authenticity of this recipe (I'm guessing it's not very accurate).  I still had lots of cabbage left over from Week 1 of my Gruber CSA so my mom suggested I check out 101 Cookbooks' Japanese Pizza.  This sent me on a recipe hunt for more variations of this traditional Japanese street food and I found out the recipe is surprisingly unspecific.  In fact, "okonomi" means "as you like it" (and "yaki" means "fried up").  So this dish is infinitely customizable.  Apparently, different regions of Japan have different traditional ingredients the like to add.  This is really more of a frittata or a pancake than a pizza.

Okonomiyaki- As I like It...

Ingredients:

The Veggies:

• 3-3 ½ cups cabbage
• 2 shredded carrots
• 3 med spring onions (green and white part thinly sliced)
• 1 cup chopped/shredded Chicken (optional, could also use slivers of beef or pork or tiny salad sized shrimp...)
• Approx ¼ c Cilantro (you could go heavier but my hubby isn't a great lover of cilantro)
• 3 very small sweet red Peppers

The Batter:

• 5 pastured eggs
• 2 ½  cups gf flour
• ¾ c chicken broth
• 1 T soy sauce (gf)
• 2 t toasted sesame oil
• Good pinch of salt

The Sauces:

• 3 T mayo
• 1 t sriracha
• 1 t soy sauce
• Squeeze of lemon juice

• ¼ c Ketchup
• 1 t mirin
• 2 t Worcestershire
• 2 t mustard 

Directions:

1.  Finely slice and chop all the veggies and chicken and toss together.

2.  Whisk together the batter ingredients and pour them over the veggies/chicken.  Mix til batter coats the veggies.

3.  In a non-stick skillet pour some oil and add about 1/3 of the mixture in a pancake-like layer over the bottom.  (I used a 10 inch skillet and this recipe yielded 3 pancakes- we had almost 1 and half pancakes left over to use for another meal/lunches).

4.  Cook for about 4 minutes on the first side, then slide the pancake out of the skillet onto a large plate.  Place another plate upsidedown on top of the pancake and flip both plates over.  Slide the pancake off the second plate and back into the skillet uncooked side down (it sounds complicated but is much easier than trying to flip a huge pancake with a spatula).

5.  Cook for an additional 4 minutes and remove to a serving plate.  Cook remaining batter in the same manner until non remains.  

6.  To serve, mix up sauces.  Smear the ketchup based sauce all over the pancake then drizzle with the mayonaise based sauce.  Garnish with additional green onions and cilantro if desired.

Jeremy said he thought it tasted like a doughier version of a spring roll or egg roll.  And gave it his approval.  I also liked it but would be interested it adding more pizzazz.  Abby like the ketchup sauce, didn't like the mayo sauce ("spicy mouth!") and barely nibbled at the pancake.  This was my own fault since I'd accidently left her unfinished peanut butter sandwich from lunch on the table and she ate that instead.  grrr.

Beet and Sweet Potato Hash

When I got my CSA box the beets intrigued me first.  Even though I've eaten beets before, I'd never cooked with them.

I started browsing recipes and found myself inspire by these two:

Red Flanel Hash from Spoon, Fork Bacon

Beet Hash with Eggs from Two Blue Lemons

Here is my variation:

Ingredients:

• 2 Sweet potatoes
• 3 Beets without greens (reserve the greens for another use)
• 1-2 yellow onions, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
• 1-2 tablespoons butter
• a couple springs of fresh thyme
• pinch of salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1/4 c. chicken or vegetable broth (I usually have homemade stock simmering on a back burner so I used this)
• 4-6 free range or pastured eggs

Directions:

1. Chop the beets and sweet potatoes into bite sized cubes. 
2. In a large, flat bottomed pot (I used a deep saute pan) bring enough water to cover the beets and potatoes to a boil.  
3. Add the beets to the water.  Give them a head start since they take longer than the sweet potatoes.  After about 5-7 minutes add the sweet potatoes.  Cook an additional 7-10 minutes or until the vegetables can be pierced with a fork.  
4. Removed the beets and sweet potatoes from the pot and pour off the water (I reserved mine for later use since it is full of vitamins and minerals). Wipe out the pan.
5. Heat butter in the pan and add the chopped onion until it caramelizes   Add garlic and thyme and saute til fragrant. Add the beets and sweet potatoes.  Saute til it smells awesome and the beets and sweet potatoes are softened.  Add the broth to deglaze the pan.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 
6. Make wells in the hash and break an egg into each well.  Cover with a lid until the egg whites are cooked through and the yolks are still soft.  
7. SERVE.

This was so, so simple to make and tasted fantastic!  That's what happens when you have great, fresh produce- simple is best!  Here is a picture of my final result.  I could certainly see cooking some bacon right before adding the onion.  I was going to but then I didn't have bacon and honestly it didn't need it.

Gruber CSA Week 1

Last Thursday I picked up my first box of produce from Gruber Farms CSA.  I mentioned earlier some reasons why we decided to invest in this CSA.  I was super excited to get our first box.  Now, it's early in the season so it's worth mentioning that the variety was low but I expect that to increase as we progress through the next 12 weeks.

Inside:

• 1 HUGE cabbage- the size of my head! (high in dietary fiber (like a toothbrush for your intestines), high in antioxidants,  vitamin C, rich in phytonutrients which support the immune system, and anti-carcinogenic)
• 1 very large bunch of Kale ("One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 40% of magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% of vitamin C, and 1,020% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus." link)
• 6 large Spring onions 
• 6 beets with greens attached (vitamin C, betaine- helps with cardiovascular health, blood pressure, and hypertension, dietary fiber, and a good source of protein)
• 2 quarts of strawberries- YAY!  (vitamin C, fiber, antioxidants)

This week's meals included:

• Beet and Sweet Potato Hash with Eggs
• Gluten Free pasta with spaghetti sauce (chock full of grated carrots) served with a kale and beet greens saute.  Abigail's take on the kale and beet greens "Yucky!  I no wuv it!  I no eat it!" So, yeah, that was successful.  I'll admit, it wasn't my favorite and needs tweaking.
• Roasted organic chicken served with a salad in which I used some of the cabbage and roasted beets in a bed of sauted beet greens (much yummier than the kale saute)
• Asian Sesame Cabbage salad- used cabbage and spring onions and some shredded up left over chicken.  Topped it off with sunflower seeds, homemade dressing (basically soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, lemon juice, sesame seeds, and fresh grated ginger), and sliced up oranges.
• A copy-cat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana to finish using up the Kale
• Japanese Pizza- to use up most of the rest of the cabbage and several spring onions.
• The strawberries were gone less than 48 hours after we opened our box.  We love strawberries around here!
• I also had several lunch salads to use the cabbage.  Seriously, it was a HUGE thing of cabbage.  I still have a little left and I have picked up box number 2 (thank God, no cabbage in this one!)

Eating Healthfully and Happily

One of my recent "hobbies," if you can call it that, has been putting more focus on the foods we eat and how they are sourced.  For the last year or so I have been educating myself on the food industry in the United States and frankly I've been pretty appalled at what is allowed to go on the shelves in the supermarket.  I won't go on and on here about Monsanto, growth hormones, artificial dyes, GMOs, and the dairy and meat industries.  There are many people who are more knowledgeable and eloquent on these topics than I.  If you're interested in doing some reading/research here are a few resources that may be helpful:

This TED talk
100 Days of Real Food
This article on growth hormones in the dairy industry
2 documentaries: Food Inc. (also their website) and Farmageddon

That said, I am convinced that it is super important to know where your food comes from and to source it locally, organically when possible, and humanely.  What we eat makes SUCH a difference in our health and well-being.   Nothing could have convinced Jeremy and I more of this than when we tried going gluten-free for a month to see if it might help all of Jeremy's health issues (migraines, IBS, depression, among others that would probably be TMI and he wouldn't appreciate having published for the world).  Jeremy has never been particularly disciplined about food choices so I was SHOCKED after that month when he said he would never eat gluten again and he STUCK TO IT!  His migraines were reduced from about 2 a week to maybe twice a month.  Irritable bowel? Not so irritated!  Depression?  Basically gone (no more meds!)-  though there are some other lifestyle factors that undoubtedly contribute to this as well.  It bears saying that going gluten free is not the answer for everyone but if you have a sensitivity to it, WOW it's like a miracle.  I don't have a sensitivity so I will still eat sandwich bread and other gluten-y things when he's not around.  That experiment provided such clear evidence to us that the food we put in our bodies can truly heal us or make us sick.

So, we've started making other changes as well.  We're not perfect at this and are working on implementing small changes little by little.  One of those changes is reducing our meat intake pretty severely.  We're not vegetarians by any means but we do have several meatless meals a week and when we do eat meat we try to do so in moderation.  From time to time we are able to afford organic chicken (with coupons!) or get some pastured meat (meaning it has been fed grass in a pasture rather than corn in a feed lot) but it's pretty pricey stuff (the flavor is AMAZING though).   It's really awesome when we can get meat from a farm that is family run and has been raised only a few hours from where we live!  But again, we're on a budget (a REALLY tight budget).  So how can we afford to eat healthfully with high quality ingredients on a salary that puts us below the poverty line? (Yeah, it's true.)

1. Like I said, we reduced our meat intake.  So even if the meat we eat is a bit more expensive we consume way less of it and at least break even with what we were spending on meat before (and sometimes it comes out less).  I admit though, that if I see meat at the supermarket that has been dramatically reduced in price I still pick it up (even though I know that it isn't really what I want to support).  For example, I have a roast in my fridge right now that I will cook up (it was reduced to half price) but that single roast will top multiple salads and get sliced thinly into stir fries and fritatas and round out several lunches/suppers for the next week.  I highly recommend the cookbook Almost Meatless for some great recipes that involves less meat but still loads of yumminess.

2.  We don't eat out (unfortunately, like NEVER).  I can cook way more servings for the price of a restaurant meal than we would get to enjoy sitting down once for the same price.

3.  We don't eat premade/processed foods.  Not even the "healthier" versions like Kashi or Amy's because they're expensive and even if they are organic and healthy (though Kashi is now owned by Kellogg so that's basicially a moot point) I'd have to buy at least 3 meals to feed my family (and Jeremy would probably end up snacking on cereal after dinner anyway since he works up such an appetite at work and I might join him since at this point in my pregnancy I'm basically hungry most of the time).  At $4-6 a pop I can cook healthier and cheaper meals myself.

4.  This one is my favorite.  Several weeks ago Jeremy and I signed up to receive a share of the crops from a local SC farm.  We figured out that most of our grocery money goes toward produce.  We decided that rather than spend "x" amount on produce that we don't know where it came from or how it was grown every week/month we'd rather bite the bullet (and use some of our tax refund) to put down a large upfront investment in a local farm.  I did a lot of research on what CSAs (CSA= community supported agriculture) are available in our area and which one seemed like the best deal for us.  I narrowed it down to Pinckney's Produce and Gruber Farms.  I ended up choosing Gruber because for the size share we wanted it was $11 cheaper and there were no delivery fees to have it dropped off at a site just a few blocks from my home (Pinckney had a $20 delivery fee).  So, for a medium share, which is 3/4 of a bushel (which, if you're like me, you have no idea how big a bushel is; picture a standard banker-size box just a few inches shorter) we spent $385 to have fresh, local produce delivered to us for 12 weeks.  I still pick up bananas, apples, onions, and garlic at the supermarket but other than that I rely on my box to dictate what kinds of foods I'll be cooking each week.  We figured out that the average weekly cost was about $32 for the produce which I'll happily spend for something as healthy and tasty as local produce (I was probably spending close to that already on lower quality foods).  Because we used some tax refund money and we're not spending $32 every week out of our paycheck we have a little bit more money available each month (to pay bills).

A few benefits of getting involved in a CSA:
1.  Locally grown food is tastier and healthier than food picked well before it was ripe and shipped in trucks cross country.  If I wanted to I could hop in the car and drive 2-3 hours and walk around the farm where my food is grown.  I kind of love that there is still dirt clinging to the roots of my veggies!  I know that the produce I bring into my house was probably picked within a day or two of my receiving it.

2.  You support local economy and traditional farming.

3.  Gruber isn't certified organic but they use way less pesticides on their food that large corporations that are shipping nationwide/worldwide.  It's kind of nice to know that the farmers didn't need to wear hazmat suits while they grew your food because of the poisons they were spraying all over it.  I'm not kidding!

14 Foods You Should Never Eat

4.  It has pushed me to taste and cook vegetables that I wouldn't usually try.  Like beets.  My mom made beets occasionally when we were growing up but when I got beets in my first box I realized that I had never actually cooked them myself!  Well, I have now, and they were delicious!

I am hoping to post about what I received in my produce box each week as well as link to recipes that I found or created to use that produce during the course of the week.

In which I make a dinner that doesn't involve remembering to turn off the stove

I'm tired.  Not "sleepy" tired, just physically worn out.  I chalk it up to the pregnancy (hello, third trimester).  My hips are throbby sore, my feet ache, and more significantly, I'm pretty sure my brain is atrophying.  I'm usually a fairly competent person.  I get most of my loose ends tied up.  I'm pretty detail oriented.  When pregnant however, it's a whole different story.  When I was pregnant with Abby my signature oversight was my purse.  I left it everywhere.  Jeremy just ended up getting used to lugging it around for me to make sure it didn't get left at church, at restaurants, in shopping carts, etc.  With this baby my main issue seems to be with turning off the stove.  No big deal.  I might just burn the house down around my toddler's and my ears!  One time I put some oil in a pot to cook up some onions, wandered off on another errand, then went streaking back to the stove when the fire alarm went off.  I ran into the kitchen to find open, roaring flame (and black smoke) billowing from a fantastic grease fire.  I threw baking soda at the mess and put out the flames.  I still haven't gotten the pan completely clean from the burnt-on oil.  That is perhaps the most dramatic result of my forgetfulness (Thank God!) but I can't tell you how many times after dinner Jeremy goes into the kitchen and finds burners still on.  I keep telling him I don't know why he still lets me in there.  But I do know why... Because no matter how much Jeremy has learned about cooking and is growing to enjoy it, I'm still better at it than him.  AND because every once in a while I surprise him with something like this:

Those are homemade, gluten-free thin mints.  Jeremy kept making sad mewing sounds whenever he saw girl scouts selling cookies in a parking lot.  Girl scout cookies have always been a major vice of his (ok, not just his) but now that he's figured out how much better he feels without gluten in his diet they are a pleasure he knew he would have to forego.  But not without minor whining and sad, pouty eyes.  Well, I can't stand for those gorgeous blue eyes to look sad, so homemade, gluten-free thin mints it was!  I found the recipe at Gluten-Free on a Shoestring and I followed it exactly except that after I mixed my dough it seemed a bit dry so I added a tablespoon or two of water.  The cookies turned out well.  The taste is basically exactly like thin mints but they weren't as crisp as the girl scout version.   Next time, I think I will bake them longer (probably at a lower temperature) to really dry them out.  I wouldn't roll them any thinner as I had enough trouble with them breaking as it was.  Jeremy was pleased though and his eyes were smiling again.  If you need a thin mint fix, check out her recipe and maybe take a look around her site if you are looking for other gluten free ideas.   

Needless to say, I forgot to turn the toaster oven off after I pulled out the cookies (thank goodness for an automatic timer that flipped it off after another 20 minutes).  I also forgot to turn off the big oven where I have a batch of homemade yogurt culturing.  I turned it on "just for a minute" to get the oven cozy for the yogurt and forgot about it until Jeremy came home.  I had it set as low as possible so here's hoping I didn't kill my yogurt culture.  The other thing that has been using up burner space today is some homemade chicken stock which fortunately does great if left on low heat all day long (as long as you remember to add water every few hours- so far so good).  Still, it's probably a good thing that for dinner tonight I decided to make something that doesn't involve using the stove or oven at all.  I present to you Vietnamese spring rolls.  I'm not really sure how authentically Vietnamese these are but they're fresh and yummy and the perfect supper to eat outside eat inside with the windows open cause it got too dark on a lovely March evening in the south .  

I used rice paper wrappers from a local Asian market.  I soaked them in warm water for WAY too long.  Apparently I should have only done it for a few seconds, one at a time.  I thought they'd take a few minutes so I soaked all of them at once and by the time I started to wrap them they were pretty fragile and tore a good bit.  I ended up using two wrappers for some of the spring rolls just to keep everything contained.  It didn't affect the flavor or edibility at all though.  I stuffed them with the following:

• lettuce leaves
• shredded cabbage
• rice
• shredded carrots
• cucumber
• minced leftover mint and culantro (they were getting kinda tired in my fridge so I threw them into the mix)
• basil leaves (note: if you buy basil or mint leaves at the store and they still have some stem left on them, put them in a glass or vase for several days, changing the water frequently, and they will sprout roots and can be planted in a pot- no more buying mint and basil! Another note:  apparently you can also regrow some lettuces from the stem.  It takes a while for them to fill out again but it's like a buy one get one free deal!)
• slices of egg tortilla/omelette (whatever you want to call it)- so I guess I did technically use the stove for about 5 minutes but I was under strict supervision.
• shredded chicken drizzled with peanut dipping sauce
• I would have used avocado except the ones I bought specifically for this meal were still hard as rocks so no go.  

For the peanut sauce, I've drawn inspiration from Iowa Girl Eats and her Thai Chicken Burgers (which I made with some of my own variations like adding tofu to the chicken mixture and adding more spices because I'm notorious for never following a recipe exactly- it's well worth checking out her recipe though!)

For the Peanut sauce I mixed (approximately)

2 Tablespoons natural, chunky peanut butter

2 teaspoons vinegar (I used apple cider but would have preferred rice vinegar if I'd had it on hand)

a glug (that's a measurement, right?) of soy sauce (in our case, gluten-free)

1 Tablespoon of honey

a squirt (also totally a measurement) of sriracha

some garlic powder (I was feeling too lazy too peel and press a fresh garlic but it's awesome if you do)

a sprinkle of ginger powder

a few tablespoons of water to make the consistency pourable/dippable

I drizzled a batch of this sauce over the chicken that I stuffed inside the wrappers and also had a batch for dipping (so make double).  YUM!  I was a little worried Jeremy would still be hungry after dinner.  I needn't have worried, he ate two and told me he was full.  I, on the other hand, ate four (I'm eating for two here!).

I had big ambitions for today but, as usual these days, between pregnancy brain (and body) and a toddler I only got through about half.  I really wanted to get another coat of paint on Abby's toddler bed and play kitchen while the weather was warm but  it didn't happen.  I guess the weather is just going to keep getting warmer from here but I'm also going to be getting bigger and more achy so I'm racing that clock.  Tomorrow we go to the birthday party of one of Abby's friends, which is good because every time we leave the house to go grocery shopping or something she asks if we can go see friends.  I'm really feeling like I need to work harder at giving both of us more of a social life instead of staying home all day.  I'm introverted and even I'm started to feel the isolation!

Long Weekend

We enjoyed a four day weekend this week since Jeremy has to work next weekend.  It was lovely.  Here are a few of the highlights.  First of all, we had a day to trip to Charlotte planned to go browse the Ikea store.  Maybe not Jeremy's idea of a rockin good time but I was excited.  We dropped Abigail off with her Teta (Jeremy's mom) and took off.  Ikea had a special event going on so it was pretty crowded.  If we go again, I would pick a day that would be less crowded OR know that I was going to buy a bunch of stuff so I could take advantage of the good deals offered during the event.  We were pretty hungry by the time we arrived so we got some food as soon as we could (not as quickly as we would have liked since the dining room was full to capacity and closed for a little while).  Once we had some blood sugar in us, it was much more fun to wander the showrooms.  Like I said, not exactly Jeremy's idea of a rockin good time but I started asking him questions about the kinds of things/styles he would eventually like to see in our "someday" home and that engaged him and got us dreaming.  Turns out our styles don't have a lot of overlap so our someday house is going to involve some compromise.  For example, Jeremy dreams of a man cave complete with dark, leather furniture and a wall of bookcases.  I don't dislike that idea but I'm much more into contemporary lines and bright colors.  A problem if we ever have to share a space for his man cave/ my craft room!

Here Jeremy admires a secretary desk and poses in front of a wall of bookshelves like he would enjoy in "his" room.

        

I liked this sideboard table although I'd be tempted to paint it red or lime green or some other punchy color.

I saw a bunch of fun things for Abby like some felt food for her play kitchen that we're working on.  Some cool toy storage ideas.  This crazy cute, child-sized chair.  I actually liked their Poang style, child-sized chair more but a kid was sitting in it and it would probably be weird for me to snap a picture of him and post it on my blog.  It freaks parents out.

We considered this fun blackboard/whiteboard easel for only $15.  Maybe another time...

We did find this great bookshelf for only $25.  We bought it to replace the ugly, walmart, black hole bookshelf that has been sitting temporarily in the dining room collecting piles on piles of magazines, cookbooks, and craft supplies.   This one is a bit smaller and fits better in the corner.  Also it is WAY cuter and I am committed to keeping it organized with some baskets or something to wrangle Abby's and my craft-time stuff.  

     

I haven't been to Ikea since I was kid (dragging behind my parents) so it was cool going through with my own house in mind but it was also a bit overwhelming since I didn't have a list of specific things I was looking for and the place is HUGE.  On the lower level there is a big warehouse-y section where you pick up your disassembled, boxed furniture.  Jeremy makes a great pack mule (er, I mean studly stallion that carries things for me).

When we were planning our Charlotte date we started considering whether we should try to stay overnight in Charlotte since we probably won't get another chance for a get-away for some time since little man is due in just a few months and we don't expect to be able to go anywhere for a while after that.  We talked about getting a cheap motel for the night but then I remembered that I actually have some friends from Panama days that own a bed and breakfast about halfway between Charlotte and Columbia so I contacted them about staying at their place.  They were our neighbors for a while in Panama and I used to play with their daughter when we were 8 or 9.  They were so generous to invite us to stay with them for FREE!!! It was amazing.  The house was lovely, breakfast was awesome and we had a marvelous time.  I should mention that the room we were in had a double-wide, jetted tub.  You better believe we took advantage of that!  You can check out their website at Harmony House B&B.

      

Breakfast was very nice with banana berry splits, spiral omelettes, asparagus, and pecan rolls.

    

After breakfast Jeremy and I just enjoyed each other's company and conversation  while we sat on the wrap-around porch and listened to the fountains.  We talked about ways to keep our marriage a priority as we embark on the adventure of adding another child to the mix and we prayed for a long time for our family as a whole and for specific things for our children.  The most important thing we prayed for was that both of our children will have hearts that are tender toward God and that they will embrace Him as their Lord (preferably in their childhood/youth to save them lots of heartache).  We prayed for their spirits and character and for wisdom for us as parents.  We prayed for all our other close family members.  OH!  We also finally agreed on a name for little June-bug.  Woohoo!  It was a great date!  We headed home refreshed and rejuvenated to collect our little one.  

On Monday we worked on a number of projects around the house.  We sanded Abby's toddler bed and got a coat of paint on it.  We did some work on her play kitchen.  Jeremy and Abby put together my new Ikea shelf.  Abby was a big "help" and kept announcing it "ALL DONE!!" after each screw went in.   It was nice just being together and working on some things for the house.  

Tuesday was much the same.  Plus, I cut Jeremy's hair for the first time.  It turned out pretty well seeing as I've never cut hair before!  He said he'd pay for the cut, so I guess that's pretty good.  Now we're all gutsing down for seven straight days of Jeremy working, one day off and another six days of work.  Good thing our batteries are charged!